Oh the things that constantly amaze me as a home inspector. I do a lot of Internet marketing and as such, I am always looking at and reading my competitors websites. I recently ran across a statement on a competitors website that said that “home buyers should not concern themselves with nit picky items and that it is inappropriate for a buyer to ask a seller to fix something if it is a deferred maintenance issue”... Hello??
With all due respect to my competitors, I absolutely, 100% do not agree with that statement. Home buyers have every right in the world to ask the seller to repair anything they want to. Of course it certainly doesn’t mean the seller will do it, but you as the consumer DO have that right! As a home inspector I see countless deferred maintenance issues every single day. For those that do not know, those deferred maintenance issues are exactly the kind of issues that wind up causing a vast majority of the “major defects” that so many in this profession talk about. Wouldn’t it make sense to catch those items early on BEFORE they become a “major defect”? And shouldn’t your home inspector be the one to point that out to you?
Homeowners that seriously neglect their home and perform little to no maintenance prior to selling it, should be responsible for their actions and in all honesty should have to repair those items due to their negligence. After all, they are asking and expecting top dollar for their home, the home should be in top dollar condition don’t you think?
I see it all the time, a first time home buyer puts an offer in on a home, gets a home inspection, only to find out that the furnace, A/C and water heater are all 18 years old and have never been serviced, cracks in the driveway, loose mortar joints in the brick, creosote buildup in the fireplace flue, Vegetation so overgrown that it is taking over the home, small plumbing leaks that have never been addressed, mold issues that have never been resolved along with countless other deferred maintenance issues. The day after the inspection, the home inspector gets a call from an irate listing agent who says that the inspection was too “nit-picky”. My response is always the same, all of those so called “nit picky” items can and do add up to a lot of money that would have to be spent by the buyer after moving in.
Who wants to deal with all of that after moving into their new home? When someone is looking to buy a home for their family, the last thing in the world they want to do is move in and start spending a bunch money on items that realistically should have already been taken care of by the previous owner.
For you the home buyer, it is seriously in your best interest to be as nit picky as you can prior to closing, and do not listen to those who will tell you otherwise. If someone says to you that you or your home inspector is being too nit-picky concerning the home inspection, odds are that person is not looking out for your best interest.
MC2 Home Inspections LLC
Indianapolis Indiana
Mike Chamberlain,
MICP, CMI, CRT, IAQCP
www.mc2inspections.com
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